On Tuesday, MLB released rankings 100-90 on this years edition of “MLB’s Top Players.” And I was extremely surprised to see Giancarlo Stanton listed at number 97.
Before I get into why Stanton deserves to be higher, I know about his injury history. His 2019 and 2020 seasons were both disappointing due entirely to his health. With that being said, the 2020 season was only 60 games. With a full traditional 162 game season, Stanton comes back from his hamstring strain with plenty of season left. He at least has a shot of salvaging his 2020. And judging by his postseason, I think he would’ve had a very good shot of doing so.
Stanton returned for the postseason and absolutely dominated. In seven postseason games, he hit six home runs. In the ALDS, he hit four HR’s with 10 RBI’s and a .316 AVG. In only seven games he proved why he’s still one of the best players on the planet. But his talent should’ve never been doubted in the first place because when the man plays, he always produces.
In 2018 he led the Yankees in many offensive statistical categories. He hit .266/.343/.509 with 38 homers and 100 RBI’s. 38 HR’s ranked him 6th in baseball that year. The year before that was his monster MVP season with the Marlins. That year he hit 59 HR’s, the 9th most single season HR’s in history. Places 1-6 were steroid era players. He still has that potential.
Although he hasn’t played many games throughout the last two years, he’s still extremely established with MVP potential. Almost every year he has come into the league, he has hit around 30 HR’s. He was an elite, established RF for over 6 years before he had his monster 2017. He’s 8th on the active leaderboard for HR’s. But what’s impressive about this is he is the youngest out of the top 10 on this leaderboard. By no means does this mean he should still be ranked as a top 10 player baseball right now, but there’s no reason why Austin Meadows should have a better ranking.
Stanton’s resume and potential is too high for him to be ranked anywhere near 97. Stanton needs to stay healthy moving forward and if he does so, I’m certain he will much higher in next year’s list.
